Generally, in production of a substrate such as semiconductor wafer or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), the photolithography technique is utilized for forming a thin film of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) or an electrode pattern on the substrate. The photolithograph technique employs a substrate convey processing device in which a substrate is conveyed to a plurality of process modules where photoresist is applied to the substrate to be exposed to light for a development process thereafter.
This type of substrate convey processing device includes a carrying-in cassette module for accommodating a plurality of unprocessed substrates, a plurality of process modules for executing predetermined processes on the substrates, a carrying-out cassette module for accommodating the processed substrates, and a conveying module for conveying the substrates between each of the modules, and is so designed that the substrates from the carrying-in cassette module are conveyed to each of the process modules in a distributed manner by the conveying module, and the substrates are processed in the plurality of process modules in a distributed manner.
Conventionally, in this type of substrate convey processing device, when a trouble occurs in a certain module while the substrate is being conveyed to each module in a stage of processing substrates in the plurality of process modules in a distributed manner, a conveyance destination of the substrate under conveyance is changed to another normally-operating module, whereby conveyance of any other substrates in the device is prevented from stopping due to occurrence of the trouble in the certain module (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 9-050948 (Patent Document 1), Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 11-016983 (Patent Document 2)).    Patent Document 1 Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 9-050948    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laving-Open No. 11-016983